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Surprise! 80 South Bay Third-Graders Gifted with New Bikes

Bill Pollakov says times were so tough growing up he didn't get his first bicycle until he was 16-years-old.

He says it changed his life.

Bill rode it to play tennis, which landed him a scholarship, which launched him into a successful business career.

He and his wife, Debbie, now spend all their time and energy giving that same gift of freedom and hope to thousands of children each year through their Southern California-based non-profit, Bikes For Kids Foundation. 

And they love doing it in dramatic fashion.

On Monday, they showed up at Washington Elementary School in San Jose telling the third graders they had three bicycles to award to the winners of an essay contest.

Once those bikes were given out, though, they surprised all 80 third-graders with bicycles of their own.

Bill and Debbie have been giving away bicycles for 14 years and this year gifted their 40,000th bike. All of the donations to their foundation are used to buy bikes and helmets. These bikes were paid for (and assembled) by employees of Pacific Advisors.

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